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Bob Aspromonte

As promised a few days ago when we were discussing his older brother Ken, we have arrived at Bob Aspromonte. A native of Brooklyn, Aspromonte signed with his hometown Dodgers after high school, breaking into the big leagues with Brooklyn in 1956 and then playing two more seasons for the Dodgers after they relocated to Los Angeles. He did not become a starter until he joined the brand new Houston Colt .45’s after being selected in the expansion draft. Hitting leadoff, Aspromonte was the first hitter in the history of the Houston organization. He manned third base for the Colt .45’s (and later Astros) from the team’s first game until 1968. He joined Atlanta in 1969, playing in 82 games. He played one more season for the Braves before finishing his career in 1971 with the Mets.

Every once in a while a player will respond with much more information than I ever asked for and Aspromonte was one of those guys. Along with filling out the survey, he sent along a pretty interesting fact sheet.

As noted, he also filled out the survey.

Blind Faith Story refers to an occasion in Aspromonte’s career when a young boy from Arkansas who had lost his sight after being struck by lightning while playing Little League baseball asked Aspromonte to hit a home run for him. The boy’s name was Billy Bradley and he was in Houston to have surgery on his eyes when Aspromonte heard about him and visited him in the hospital. During the visit, Aspromonte asked Bradley if there was anything he could do for him and Bradley responded with his request for a home run. It seemed like a tall order for Aspromonte, who averaged fewer than five home runs a season, but he did just that. One year later Bradley, with his sight restored, returned to Houston for another surgery and again asked Aspromonte to hit a home run for him – this time, one that he could see. Once again, this time with Bradley in attendance, Aspromonte obliged his young fan with a home run. The entire event was documented in the Fox Sports Network series “Amazing Sports Stories” in 2008. I was unable to locate the episode anywhere online.